16 Mar 1938 | World War II Database

16 Mar 1938

Italian aircraft based in Majorca began a three-day around-the-clock bombing campaign on the Spanish city of Barcelona. Meanwhile, Spanish Nationalists forced the Spanish Republicans to retreat up to 60 miles during the offensive toward Aragon and Levante in Spain. ww2dbase [The Spanish Civil War | AC]
Benito Mussolini, previously a proponent of Austrian independence, stated his support for the recently affected German occupation of Austria. ww2dbase [Annexation of Austria | CPC]

China

The full Japanese offensive against Tengxian, Jiangsu Province, China began at 0800 hours with a bombardment by mountain guns and aircraft. Japanese troops attempted multiple times to rush into the town via collapsed portions of the city wall, but most of the attackers were cut down by Chinese troops. The east gate was taken at 1700 hours, but it was recaptured by the Chinese at 2000 hours. Through the night, 1,000 men from the Chinese 370th and 372nd Battalions were able to sneak into the town as reinforcement. ww2dbase [Battle of Xuzhou | Tengxian, Jiangsu | CPC]

Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis

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